Air moistener



May 22,' 1923.

A. BEMENT AIR MOISTENER Filed Jan. 21,;1921

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fave/7km- /A weweflll/lll Patented May 22, i923.

UNTE STATES man? ALBURTO BEIVIENT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

AIR MOISTENER.

Application filed January 21, 1921. Serial No. 438,869.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, ALnUnro BE'MENT, citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in an Air Moistener; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates t0 humidifying devices, its general objects being those of providing a. simple, inexpensive and effective device suitable for utilizing steam in moistening air. For this purpose, my invention aims to provide aI humidifying de vice which can readily be attached to the piping of an ordinary vsteam heating installation, which will be silent in operation, which will notI ordinarily. allow Aany of the escaped steam to condense on its surface, and which will catch the drip from such condensed steam in case-it should be used under circumstances permitting of such condensation. Furthermore, my invention aims to provide a device of this kind with a unitary mounting including a conveniently disposed valve for controlling the operation of the moistening device. It also aims to provide an air moistener which can be designed to operate effectively with widely varying pressures of steam, including the exceedingly low pressure used in the so-called vapor heating systems. Still further and more detailed objects will appear from the following specification and from the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. l is an elevation of one end of a radiator, showing the steam supply pipe as carrying an air moistener embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged central and vertical section through the air moistener of Fig. 1 along the line 2--2- Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken through Fig. 2 along the correspondingly numbered line of that figure.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary central and vertical section through a more simple form of my moistener, namely one employing only loose asbestos for the silencing.

Fig. 5 is a' similar section through an embodiment in which the silencing is effected by loose asbestos and sheet asbestos both disposed between two concentric cylinders of wire gauze.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary enlargement of the inner portion of Fig. 3, showing the manner in which the portions of steam are subdivided while passing through the sif lencing walls.

Generally speaking, I accomplish some purposes of my invention by causing the steam to issue through' a wall which affords a large number of fine and winding passages in which the steam is gradually expanded whilepassing from an inner steam chamber to the outer air, and by maintaining the temperature of the steam during its said expansion; also,by providing simple and good-.looking means' for 'maintaining this wall in operative position and for automatically draining off any moisture which may be carried by the entering steam into the steam chamber. This resulting drain vor drip I desirably feed back into the Asteam pipe, and for that purpose I am here showing the moistener of my invention as including a tubular stem 1 threaded at its lower end yfor attachment through a suitable pipe connection 2 to yfeed pipe 3 ofga low pressure radiator 17. The riser l has fast upon it anupper head l1 with a relatively small bore or port t through'A which steam can be admitted to the interior of the percolating or silencing wall which forms one of the main operativel portions of my moistener. This wall 8 is desirably composed of a material having a quite, low specific heat, such as asbestos, and desirably is in the form of a downwardly open elongated thimble mounted on the said head 11, so that the steam passing through this port will enter the interior of the thimble. Consequently, the elongated chamber 5 which forms the interior ofthe thimble serves as a distributing chamber for permitting the steam to distribute itself throughout the inner surface ofthe wall 8.

To maintain this thimble-shaped fwall in its proper' shape and to preserve the desired kuniformity of distribution of the packing materia-l, I desirably pack the asbestos ,8 between two perforated walls each of which also is substantially thimble-shaped and each of which walls desirably has its entire side portions formed of a foraminous ma* terial such as a wire gauze. For this purpose, I am here showing an inner reinforcing thimble comprising a cylinder 6 of wire gauze brazed at its lower end to the cap 11 and having its upper end 9 also. made of wire gauze, so that the steam in the chamber 5 may readily distribute itself through the openings in this entire inner wall member. The gauze portions 6 and 9 may be of relatively light metal, but I desirably employ a heavier gauze 7 for the cylindrical side portion of the reinforcing wall which surrounds the packing 8, thereby securing adequate stiffness for preventing mechanical injury to my appliance. This perforatecylinder 7 is here shown as soldered or brazed both to the head 11 of the riser and t0 an upper head 10, which latter head cooperates with the cylinder 7 in affording an outer reinforcing thimble for the asbestos packing.

Thus arranged, the meshes of the inner gauze portions 6 and 9 initially subdivide the steam into a large number of minute streams, and in winding their way through the packing 8 to the larger gauze tube 7 which has a correspondingly greater total area of apertures, these streams will be still more subdivided before they reach the openings in this gauze cylinder 7. By thus expanding the steam during its passage through the interstices of the packing, I can readily reduce its pressure without lowering its temperature sufficiently to cause any condensation within the passages, and hence obtain an entirely silent action. 'Io aid in maintaining the requisite temperature, I preferably employ for the packing a material having a low specific heat, such as asbestos in the form of loosely packed fibres. Furthermore, since the cylindrical screen 7 is made of a good heat conducting material and is directly secured at its lower end to the head 11 which is heated by the incoming steam, this screen is also kept continuously heated, so that this heat conduction aids in keeping the packing sufliciently hot to avoid any condensation of the steam while passing through the packing. By carefully selecting the material for the packing and uniformly distributing this to avoid any unduly large passages through the same, and by proportioning the thickness and coinpactness of this packing to the available steam pressure, I can therefore cause the emitted steam to issue without any noise whatever and in a suiiciently dry form to avoid having it condense on the surface of the outer screen. However, practical difficulties may be met in selecting asbestos of the desired uniformity, iny packing this evenly, and in maintaining this uniformity of packing in spite o f the vjarring to which such an appliance may be subjected during the rough handling of the packages in which such goods are shipped. I therefore desirably employ part of the packing or percolating material in the form of a previously fabricated sheet having a delinitely determined distribution of the material and having quite fine passages winding through the same, such as a sheet of asbestos. For example, Fig. 2 shows such I a relatively thin auxiliary asbestos sheet 12 wrapped outside the gauze cylinder 7 and held in position ,by an outer perforated sleeve 13, the latter being desirably also of wire gauze and desirably being nickeled or otherwise plated to afford a handsome finish for the moistener.

To control the operation of the moistener, I desirably provide suitable means for governing the admission of steam through the port 4, such as a valve 14: controlled by a readily accessible handle 15. This valve 14 is desirably mounted within the stem 1, so that the latter serves as a mounting both for the control valve and for the moistener proper, and the valve is preferably so posirt-ioned that any condensation occurring within the moistener after the steam supply is shut off will drain into the supply pipe.

By suitably proportioning the thickness of the expansion-permitting packing or packings in relation to both the material used for this purpose and the available steam pressure, I can readily construct moisteners as above described for use with any desired pressure of steam; and since the construction of my moistener affords a relatively direct outlet for the steam, I can employ it effectively even with so-called vapor heating systems working under heads of as low as two ounces. In practice, I have found that a properly proportioned moistener constructed along these lines will be free from any outer condensation or dri under ordinary conditions of operation. owever, circumstances might arise where some condensation might occur initially if-steam is admitted to a moistener while the metal parts of the latter are quite cold. I am therefore also showing the riser 1 as carrying a V drip cup 16 surrounding the base of the steam-pervious part of my moistener, so that this metal drip cup will catch any condensed moisture and will evaporate the latter as soon as the metal parts of the applianceare heated up. I am also showing my appliance as used in a vertical position with the thiinble-shaped portions opened downwardly, so that any rmoisture carried upward with the entering steam or condensed within the chamber 5 will drain by gravity through the port 4f into the steam supply pipe. Y

However, I do not wish to be limited to the use of my ap oliance in this particular position, nor to t e various details of construction and arrangement as above disclosed. Neither do I wish to be limited toits use in connection with household heating appliances, since it might be employed with equal advantage for moistening air in textile mills, bakeries or other industrial establishments. Obviously, various additions, omissions or other changes might be made without departing from the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims. For example, Fig. 4 shows a central and vertical section through the upper portion of a moistener in which the entire expansion of the steam is eifected by a loose asbestos packing disposed between two concentric thimbles, each of which has its upper end as well as its side portions made of wire gauze, such a simplified form being ample for factory work where it is not necessary to have the finish afforded by the auxiliary outer casing and the cast head of the embodiment shown in Fig. 2. Likewise, Fig. 5 shows a similar section through an embodiment in which the outer layer 12 of sheet asbestos is also disposed inside the wire gauze cylinder 7, so that the loose asbestos is packed between this sheet and the inner gauze thimble.

lVith each of the illustrated embodiments it will be evident that the surface of the outer metal screen will be much greater than that of the inner screen, thereby permitting the total area of apertures in the outer screen to be correspondingly larger than those of the inner screen. Consequently, the steam must expand while passing from the said smaller aperture area to the larger aperture area, and by interposing a suitable maf terial for causing this expansion to be effected quite gradually and subdivisionally, I obtain the desired entirely silent action.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an air moistener, a substantially thimble-shaped body of loose asbestos packing, means for admitting steam to the bore thereof, and retaining means for maintaining the packing in its thimble-shaped form while permitting the percolating of steam through the side portions thereof; the said retaining means including a tube of sheet asbestos and a foraminous metal tube both disposed outside of the said packing.

2. In an air moistener, a pair of concentric and substantially thimble-shaped metal members having foraminous side portions, means for admitting steam tothe bore of the inner member, a steam-pervious packing disposed between the two members, a metal moistener base supporting both metal members and in heat-conveying contact therewith, and means for admitting steam to the inner of 'the said members through the base while subjecting the base to the heat of a relatively larger amount of steam.

Y 3. In an air moistener, steam-pervious silencing means comprising an inner tube of loosely packed asbestos libre and an outer and thinner walled tube of sheet asbestos.

4;. In an air moistener, steam-pervious s1- lencing means comprising an inner tube of loosely packed asbestos fibre and an outer and thinner walled tube of sheet asbestos, and non-porous closures for both ends of the said tubes. y

5. In an air moistener, a hollow member having a lower inlet for steam and a closed upper end and having a porous wall affording a plurality of minute and tortuous outlet passages of gradually increasing total cross-sectional area, a drip cup surrounding the lower end of the said wall, and means surrounding the said inlet and in heat-conducting relation to both the inlet and the drip-cup for heating both thereof.

6. An air moistener comprising a hollow member closed at its top and having a lower inlet for steam and having a porous wall affording a plurality of minute and tortuous outlet passages leading radially of the said member to the outer air, a valve controlling the inlet, and a unitary mounting for the valve and the said hollow member; the said mounting comprising a member having an inlet at its bottom and having a steam supply chamber surrounding the valve and connected to the said inlet by a tube of considerably smaller bore than the steam supply chamber, both the said tube and the said valve having wall portions exposed within the steam supply chamber so as to subject the said tube and valve to the heat of the steam within the said chamber.

7. An air moistener comprising a lriser pipe connected to a supply of dry steam, a closure for the said upper end including a smaller pipe extending downwardly into the riser pipe and opening into the latter near its lower end, a valve controlling the said opening, a laterally perforate tube into which the upper end of the smaller-pipe opens, and a steam-pervious packing laterally surrounding the said tube.

.8. An air moistener comprising a vertical riser pipe connected to a supply of dry steam and having an upper end closure equipped with a perforation, a pair of foraminous and vertical cylinders mounted on the said closure coaxial with the perforation and in heat-conducting relation to the closure, and a packing of steam-pervious material filling the space between the cylinders and arranged for aHording a plurality of line and tortuous passages from the bore of the inner cylinder to the outer air, the said packing comprising a relatively thick hollow tube of loose material and a thin tube of sheet material housing the said hollow tube.

9. An air moistener comprising a hollow member closed at its top and having a lower inlet for steam and having a porous wall affording a plurality of minute and tortuous outlet passages leading radially of the said member to the outer air, a valve controlling the inlet, and a unitary mounting forthe steam Within the said chamber, 'the said hollow member` being seated directlyY upon the top of the Steamv supply chamber so as to subject the lower end of the hollow member to the heat Conducted through the said top from the steam in the steam supply chamber.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois7 January 18, 1921.

ALBURTO BEMENT. 

